Degrees of Separation
by pleasant-hell
Summary: She'd bought a king sized bed to make the massive room look less empty. All it really managed to do was make her feel more alone.
1. Chapter 1

Santana was the most successful person she knew. She was the CEO of a massive PR firm that handled millions of dollars of product and merchandise a day. They handled the biggest names in entertainment and media. She was captain of her empire at the tender age of twenty-three.

In college she worked full time for this company's LA firm and transferred to the New York firm when she graduated, making her way to the top only a year later. She wasn't just good at what she did, she was great. She was feared, loved, and hated, but she didn't care.

Everyday she'd stare out the window of her high-rise office and wonder where was she? Was she happy? Did she graduate from the dance academy? Where was she now?

For a long time she kept track of her. Santana would call and ask their mutual friends how she was and what she was up to. That faded out when she started working here. Her world revolved around the firm. Her office was her home and her apartment was her place to sleep.

She managed current singer-songwriter superstar Noah Puckerman, Broadway stunner Rachel Berry, and R&B diva Mercedes Jones. She ran PR for Hummel Fashion House. She had a Chief Operations Officer who was almost as feared as she was. Quinn Fabray ran her division with an efficiency that finally managed to gain Santana's respect and eventual friendship.

"Mark," Santana said with her phone to her ear, her personal assistant on the other line, "Look up the best private investigator in the city. I need them to find someone." The second she hung up the phone it rang again. She answered it, "Yeah?"

"Miss Fabray to see you," her new secretary told her.

Santana rolled her eyes, "I already told you. When Quinn wants to come into my office, she can come into my office."

"I-I-I'm sorry Miss. Lopez," her secretary stuttered.

Santana dropped the phone in its cradle and started to look through one of the files on her desk. Quinn walked in a few seconds later. She plopped down into the chair in front of Santana's desk and tossed a file onto Santana's desk, "If you didn't harass your secretaries, it wouldn't be so hard to keep a good one."

"I don't harass my secretaries," Santana picked up the file Quinn threw to her.

The blonde shook her head, "You went Naomi Watts on your last one."

"Allegedly," Santana peered over the file, "Why did you bring me this?"

Quinn leaned back in the chair putting her feet up on the desk, "He wants to know if we'll represent him. I know you don't like him….for making out with Brittany in high school, but his dance group is gaining popularity like you wouldn't believe."

"You're right I wouldn't believe it," Santana dropped the file on her desk, "Get your feet off of my desk."

Quinn ignored her and took out her Blackberry. She punched a few buttons and handed it to Santana, "His group's Facebook and Twitter pages have over a million followers. I'll bet my job that he'll be turning a huge profit in four months."

"Can I get that in writing?" Santana looked over the page and handed it back.

"You need me too much to fire me even if I'm wrong," Quinn took her phone back and stood up, "C'mon I need your yes or no."

"Fine," Santana shrugged, "But I can't promise that I'll be at his welcome party."

"You never come to anyone's welcome party," Quinn toss over her shoulder as she walked out. She called over her shoulder, "Go home. It's after six."

The brunette sighed. She probably should leave. It was only a few minutes after six and that was pretty early for her to be leaving, but she'd finished all the work she needed to do for the day. She gathered her things and hoped that it didn't take too long to hail a cab.

Santana walked into her massive loft. She dropped her keys on the table by the front door and dropped her bag on the ground. Before she flipped on the lights, she momentarily thought of just going back to her office. She shook her head at herself. Quinn was right. She needed a life.

She dropped onto the couch and fumbled around trying to turn on the lamp. She'd only had it for a few days. She had to buy it after she hurled the only one at the wall. The maintenance guy shook his head while he fixed the dent in her wall and the maid acted like it was the natural thing in the world.

She slowly walked to her bedroom. At the doorway, she stopped and placed on hand on each side of it. She'd bought a king sized bed to make the massive room look less empty. All it really managed to do was make her feel more alone.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a text from her personal assistant. It was the contact information for the PI she wanted. She immediately called the number although the PI office was probably closed.

"Nick Chase," the man on the phone answered, surprising her, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I need the best PI you have to find someone for me," Santana fell back on the bed.

"Okay well we charge-"

"I don't care what you charge," Santana cut him off, "I want your best person."

The man paused, "Okay well let me get your information and we'll have in investigator meet with you tomorrow."

Santana rattled off the address of her office, "What time should I expect him?"

"She'll be there at nine," the man answered.

"Okay," Santana answered and hung up. She looked up at the ceiling. She listened for any sign of life in her loft or next door. There was none and she sighed heavily. She needed to get a dog or something.

She was at her office again a little before eight in the morning with Quinn. They were both on the phone with different people, but they were talking about the same thing. A crisis had swept over the office. The crisis's name was Rachel Berry.

"I swear to god if Berry makes one more stupid comment or storms out for not winning a Tony we're going to drop her…then I'm going to kill her," Santana spewed.

Quinn yells into the phone, "Who do I have to pay to get her a goddamn Tony?"

"I'm going to throw her out of a window."

"Who do I have to threaten to get her a Tony?"

"Then tie her to some train tracks."

"Who do I have to sleep with to get her a Tony?…okay that is so not happening…"

They hung up at the same time and stared angrily at Santana's desk. Quinn was the first to speak, "I'm calling her to my office. We need to have a little chat."

"Good," Santana nodded, "Tell me when she's coming. I want to watch. You two go at it like alley cats."

Quinn broke out in the smile, "Whatever."

Santana's intercom buzzed. "There's a PI here to see you, Ms. Lopez."

Santana pressed the intercom button and replied, "Send her in."

"PI?" Quinn asked, her eyes flickering to the door.

"Yeah," Santana nodded, "Go call Rachel and get her into your office so you two can verbally abuse each other until you both feel so bad she'll do what we want."

The blonde rolled her eyes as the door opened. A woman in a gray form-fitting suit walked in. Her black hair was up in a ponytail and she was carrying a leather messenger bag over her shoulder. Quinn eyed her before walking out and closing the door behind her.

Santana shook the woman's hand, "I'm Santana Lopez."

"Nora Wynant," the woman replied and sat down in one of the two chairs in front of Santana's desk.

Santana lowered herself in to her chair, "You're the PI?"

"Yes," she took out a notepad and stated matter-of-factly, "The best one in the city." She referred to her notepad, "Who do you want me to find? Full name."

Santana leaned back in her chair, "Brittany Susan Pierce."

"Last known location?" she asked, jotting things down on the little notepad.

Santana shrugged, "She lived in Santa Barbara a few years ago, but she moved to New York. Now I have no idea."

The PI stood up, "Occupation?"

"Dancer?" Santana answered unsure, "At least it was when she moved here."

"It's my legal obligation to tell you that if this person has a restraining order against you that I'm barred from finding her for you," the PI rattled off like she'd said it a million times.

Santana stood with her and shook her head, "No I-she just moved. We grew apart…"

Nora nodded, "Alright, well I'll let you know of my progress tomorrow."

"That's fast," Santana commented as the woman made her way to the door.

"I am the best," the woman stated with little emotion and walked out the door.

It wasn't an hour later that Santana was refereeing a screaming match between Rachel and Quinn. She sat at Quinn's desk while the other two stood in front of it trading insults and trying to tear each other down. She couldn't help, but smile. This was pretty hilarious to watch. She knew it would never come to blows. It never did.

"Okay," she finally stood up when she started to worry that people down the street could hear, "Let's tone it down a little."

Rachel crossed her arms and huffed as she sat down on the couch in Quinn's office. Quinn took a deep breath and leaned on her desk.

"You can't keep telling people that you should have won the Tony. You need to bow out gracefully and congratulate whoever wins," Santana explained evenly.

"But I deserved it," Rachel whined.

Quinn nodded slowly, "Yeah you did, but awards nowadays are getting more and more political, but Marion Cotillard was really good too."

"Be happy you were nominated," Santana added, "There are thousands of actresses on Broadway and you were in the five that were nominated."

At the look on Rachel's face, Santana knew she said something that she shouldn't have. Rachel went off again, ranting about how she was better than thousands of other actresses and how she worked harder and she deserved it.

"Rach," Quinn finally got her to calm down, by placing a hand on Rachel's forearm, "Listen, you definitely deserve it. You're talented and beautiful and intelligent. You will win one someday."

Rachel thought it over. "Fine."

Quinn smiled, "Great. How about I take our best client out to lunch?"

"Perfect," Rachel smiled back.

Santana shook her head at the two. They could go from screaming at each other to taking each other out to lunches and dinner, talking like they're best friends. It was weird.

Santana spend the rest of the day and most of the evening in her office, negotiating deals and putting out fires caused by celebrities who got a little tipsy and decided to drunk tweet.

By the time she was done for the day, Santana needed coffee just to get home. If she didn't have the next day off she would have just slept at her office. She stepped into the deserted coffee shop that she sent her PA to all the time. The coffee was delicious and always strong.

As usual, when she wasn't speaking to someone her face was buried in her Blackberry. At the moment she was checking Twitter for any unapproved tweets.

"Can I help you?" the barista asked.

Santana nodded, "Um, just a large of whatever has the most caffeine in it." She didn't wait for him to tell her the price before she handed over her credit card.

"Alright Ms. Lopez," he said happily, "It'll be ready in about two minutes."

She glanced up at him to thank him and take her card back. She had a seat at one of the small round tables and proceeded to log into Rachel Berry's Twitter account to delete her last tweet offering Gwyneth Paltrow voice lessons.

"Here ya go," the guy set the coffee on her table.

"Thanks," Santana put her phone away and stood with her coffee in hand. She turned and placed her hand on the frost handle of the door. When she pushed it open the door, the cold air rushed in making her pause to tighten the scarf around her neck.

"Hey Brandon. Where is the key to the back door?"

Santana looked over her shoulder, wondering if her ears were deceiving her. Perhaps a symptom of sleep deprivation.

She realized that if she was hearing things, she was seeing things too. Standing in the middle of the doorway behind the counter was Brittany.


	2. Chapter 2

Santana froze in place; the door open and letting cold air surround her.

"Is there something wrong ma'am?" Brandon asked, noticing that Santana hadn't left.

Santana saw Brittany's head turn toward her, seemingly in slow motion. Her hair, up in a ponytail, rippled with the movement. A quick grin hopped onto her face. She easily slid over the counter and captured Santana in a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Brittany asked.

Santana finally got her brain to move again, "I just left my office. What are you doing here?"

"I work here."

Santana blinked, "What?"

Brandon appeared next to him with a girl's coat in his hand. He smiled at Brittany, "I'll close up."

Brittany hugged him and shrugged on her coat.

Santana pushed open the door, holding it open for Brittany.

"Do you have anywhere to be?" Santana asked.

Brittany shook her head.

"My apartment isn't far from here. Do you want to come over?"

Brittany smiled, "Yes."

Normally Santana would have walked home, but it was freezing and the wind seemed to become intensified by funneling between the buildings. She easily hailed a cab and they both climbed in.

Santana was quiet. Not because she didn't have anything to say. On the contrary, she had hundreds of questions. Luckily the cab ride was only a couple minutes. When he stopped, Santana paid him and led the way to into the building.

As she was opening her door, Santana tried to remember if the maid came today, hoping she had because Santana couldn't remember how clean she left it.

"Wow San," Brittany stepped in and looked around. One wall was entirely windows looking down at the street below and the horizon dotted with lights from distant building.

"Do you want something to drink or eat?" Santana asked, "I don't think I've eaten since breakfast."

Brittany gave Santana a disapproving look, "San."

"I was busy," Santana defended but enjoyed that Brittany still cared when she skipped meals.

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet," Brittany walked to the window, "I just got off of work."

"Chinese or pizza."

"Chinese."

"Chow Mien?"

Brittany grinned, "Always."

Santana chuckled. She was loving the familiarity of being around Brittany again.

Santana ordered the food and sat on the couch watching Brittany look around. The blonde stopped next to the only picture in the whole living room. She slowly reached down to pick it up as if scared to touch it. When she picked it up she gently held it in both hands. It was her and Santana when they first arrived in Santa Barbara. They were leaning on each other at the beach excited about starting their adult lives in the real world.

"You don't have any other pictures," Brittany commented, a twinge of sadness in her voice.

Santana didn't really know what to say. She just nodded, "There's like two in my bedroom but they looked pretty much like that one."

Brittany put the picture down and sat down next to Santana. After studying her for a moment she whispered, "You look tired."

"Mhmm," Santana nodded.

"I can come back tomorrow," Brittany offered.

Santana shook her head, "I don't have to go to work tomorrow. If you need to leave though-"

"No," Brittany quickly cut her off. She brought her hand to run through Santana's hair.

Santana leaned into the touch. It had been a while since anyone besides Quinn had touched her especially touched her with such affection and tenderness.

Brittany noticed Santana's subtle reactions to the touches and continued stroking her hair. Santana eventually rested her head on Brittany's shoulder. Suddenly she felt like she was back in high school where nothing and no one mattered as much as Brittany.

A profound sadness settled over Brittany. The way Santana crumbled into her was heartbreaking but she couldn't ignore a glimmer of glee in her chest for having run into Santana again.

When the food came, Santana got up and paid for it. Brittany went to the kitchen and found plates. Santana set the food on the coffee table as Brittany called, "What do you want to drink?"

"Water. Thanks B."

They ate in relative silence until Santana couldn't hold back the question anymore. "Why are you working at that coffee shop?"

Brittany offered offhandedly, "To pay rent." Then she looked up, "Oh, you mean working there and not with the company. The dance company I joined went bankrupt. Something about cocaine or something. I joined a new one. They pay for me to go places and for costumes and stuff, but they can't pay my rent. I'm auditioning for some other groups this week." Brittany took her turn to ask something, "Why are you here? I mean in New York."

"Well when I graduated from UCSB the company offered me a job at the branch of my choice. The president of the parent company kinda loves me. I knew if I came here I could probably take over faster. Of course I didn't think it would be this fast. Plus, I was hoping to run into you." Santana explained and punctuated the statement with a smile.

Brittany smiled, "I always hoped that you'd move here. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Santana smiled back.

The blonde's smiled faded. She paused for a beat before asking, "What happened to us?"

Santana sighed, "I don't know. I mean when you moved I started working all the time. I guess it was my fault. I should have tried harder to keep track of you."

"I moved though," Brittany admitted with a guilty look on her face.

Santana watched Brittany and finally smiled, "Well we're together now."

Brittany's phone ran as she nodded. She pulled it out of her coat pocket. When she saw the number she frowned and silenced it. When she looked up at Santana was donning a concerned gaze. Brittany smiled and shook her head, indicating that there was no need to worry. "Do you know what happened to Q?"

"She works for me," a cocky smirk coated Santana's face.

"No way."

"Yeah."

Brittany leaned on the back of the couch and offered, "We should all go to lunch."

"I bet she'd love that," Santana nodded.

They continued talking for hours catching up. They told stories and found that neither one had changed a whole lot since they stopped talking.

When Brittany yawned, Santana suggested, "It's really late. Why don't you stay the night?"

Brittany didn't need convincing. She quickly agreed.

Santana smiled and rose from the couch. She led the way to her bedroom. Brittany's eyes grew wide at the size of Santana's bed, "It's huge."

Santana chuckled, "Yeah. I don't think I've even slept on half of it yet."

She got out some clothes and Brittany set off to changing right away. Santana gulped as Brittany peeled off her shirt. Santana shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Brittany's body. Quite the contrary, she was definitely becoming aroused at the sight. It didn't help that she hadn't had sex in a long time. But she'd just found Brittany again. She didn't know if Brittany would still want the kind of relationship they had before. Or if Brittany was even seeing someone. That thought definitely put a damper on her mood.

Santana looked thoughtfully at the bed before changing. Then she started taking the decorative pillows off of the bed and tossing them onto the floor. Brittany watched and when Santana was done, she helped pull back the blankets and sheets. Brittany hesitantly climbed into the bed. The brunette turned off the lights and turned off her alarm.

When Santana got in, Brittany migrated to the middle of the bed. Santana sort of met her there. They were so close that they could have easily fit on a twin bed, but they weren't touching each other.

"I'm glad you needed coffee tonight," Brittany grinned into the dark.

Santana laughed, "I'm glad you were working tonight."

Brittany tentatively reached out and too Santana's hand. Their fingers easily threaded together. It was like a fire ran from her hand through her whole body setting it ablaze, but she couldn't let go. She missed Brittany, more than anything. She told Brittany this.

Brittany gently squeezed Santana's hand, "I really, really missed you."

Santana stroked Brittany's hand with her thumb wishing she had the courage to reach out and hold Brittany properly. She wanted to wrap her arms around Brittany's waist and bury her face in the blonde's long lean neck. But she knew that that was off limits for now. It had been so long, she knew that they couldn't just pick up where they left off. She decided that she was content that Brittany was there in her bed, holding her hand as they both drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, a banging around in the living room startled Brittany awake. She tilted her head and listened. She heard some more banging and started to panic. She gently shook Santana awake, urgently whispering, "San! Someone's in your apartment."

"Wha-" Santana sat up. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Brittany. A smile couldn't be stopped on her face as she remembered that she wasn't waking up this morning alone.

"San!" Brittany pointed to the open bedroom door.

Santana chuckled and had to forcefully fight the urge to take Brittany's face in her hands and kiss her, "It's probably just the maid."

"Maid?" Brittany's eyebrows furrowed. Santana knew she'd have to prove it to Brittany. She slid out of her bed, her feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. Brittany followed her and took Santana's hand, nervously chewing on her bottom lip.

Santana shook her head, again having to resist the urge to kiss Brittany. She had apparently forgotten about how damn adorable Brittany was.

When they walked into living room they found Santana's maid working on the baseboards by the front door with headphones in her ears.

"See?" Santana motioned to the petite red-haired woman who had noticed them and smiled.

"Hey," she looked at Santana, "You're not at work."

Santana walked to the kitchen to see what she had along the lines of breakfast, "I took the day off."

The maid stepped up to Brittany and extended her hand, "I've got to meet you. You're like the first living person that I've see here beside her. I've dusted your picture like a thousand times."

Brittany glanced at the doorway of the kitchen and saw Santana inside pouring herself some orange juice, wondering what exactly Santana had been doing for the past few years besides working. Then she looked back at the maid and shook her hand with a smile, "I'm Brittany."

"I'm Amy," the girl smiled back. She looked at her watch, "I better get back to cleaning, but I hope to see you around her more often. She needs to take more days off."

The blonde nodded, "It sounds like it."

Amy went back to cleaning while Santana walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of orange juice, "If I even remembered where my pots and pans were it would probably turn out horribly," Santana handed off once of the glasses to Brittany. "I haven't cooked in forever."

Brittany took the glass and walked into the kitchen. She started looking through the pantry and fridge while Santana leaned on the doorway, watching. The blonde finally looked up at her, "I'll make breakfast."

"You don't have to," Santana stated, although the idea of her first home cooked mean in months sounded awesome.

Brittany had already started to get out the necessary kitchen tools to make breakfast.

While they ate, Santana went through her usual morning routine of checking every social media outlet she was supposed to monitor and then scanned the TMZ webpage praying that none of her clients were caught with their nose in a coke bag. She apologized multiple times to Brittany for being rude and not paying attention to her during breakfast, but Brittany just smiled sweetly and told her it was okay.

After breakfast, Brittany cleared the table. Santana rested her chin in her palm and watched as she loaded the dishwasher that Santana forgot she had, "You really don't have to do that."

"It's not a big deal," Brittany tentatively smiled at Santana. Her eyes moved to the clock behind Santana. "I have to go though. I have go home to get my clothes for my auditions."

"Oh," Santana picked up their glasses and set them in the sink, "I'll drop you off. I have some errands to run."

Brittany's eyes got wide, "No-no you don't have to. I…I'll just take the train."

"C'mon," Santana offered a reassuring smile as they walked into the bedroom, "I'm going in pretty much every direction I can think of today. We can share a cab."

Brittany was already changing back into her clothes. She looked a little frightened as she grabbed her phone and shoved it into her pocket, "I'll be fine." She threw her arms around Santana, "I'm glad you found me."

Santana held tight to Brittany's waist, stopping her escape, "Brit what's wrong?"

"No-nothing," Brittany's eyes were trained on the ground, "I'm just going to be really late."

The brunette released Brittany with a question, "Do I get to see you again?"

Finally Brittany smiled, "Of course. I should be done with my auditions around two."

"I should be done with my errands around two," Santana grinned and hugged Brittany again, "Do you want to come back here or we can meet at your place?"

"Here is great," Brittany quickly answered.

"Awesome," Santana grinned and watched as Brittany walked out the door, throwing one last look over her shoulder.

Santana put her hands on her hips and sighed. Then she looked at Amy who was now dusting around the TV, "Did it seem like she was acting weird to you?"

"Well I wasn't listening because that's totally unprofessional," Amy didn't turn away from the TV as she spoke, "But if I was I would tell you that it sounds like she doesn't want you to know where she lives."

"That's what I thought," Santana scratched her neck before turning back to her bedroom to take a shower. She needed to do the things she was always sending her personal assistant to do because she was feeling the need for real human interaction. Her personal assistant, her secretary, and Quinn were great and all but she needed to talk to other people besides them.


	3. Chapter 3

While Santana was picking up her dry cleaning, her phone rang. She looked at the number and didn't recognize it. Quinn was supposed to be making sure that she got left alone today, but usually someone managed to get her number and bug her. "Yeah?" she answered.

"Hello Ms. Lopez this is Nora the private investigator," the other woman was as she was yesterday, professionally and to the point.

"Oh yeah I meant to call you," Santana stated and was about to add that she had already found Brittany, but Nora went on.

"I have some information for you. If you'd like me meet me somewhere, I'll hand it over."

Santana thought it over. She was wondering what kind of information. She and Brittany talked a lot last night, but she didn't feel like she learned anything about Brittany she didn't already know.

"How about the coffee shop at 72nd and Amsterdam?" Santana asked, reading off the nearest street sign.

"Perfect," Nora replied, "I'll be there in three minutes."

Before Santana could add anything Nora hung up. Santana turned to her left and walked into the coffee shop, sliding into the last vacant table with her dry cleaning. She checked her watch, watching the second hand tick by. When exactly three minutes was up, she looked up and saw that Nora was sitting down in the chair across from her.

"Here's her address," Nora handed Santana a piece of paper out of an open folder in the other woman's hand.

Santana looked at the paper. She pulled up the address on her phone and looked at the street view of the building, "That's a shithole."

"She works at a coffee shop," the PI stated, "That's a pretty nice place for a barista. Plus it's month to month."

Santana frowned. Now she knew why Brittany didn't want her to take her home.

"She works at the Coffee Pot down the street from her office," Nora read off of her notes. "She recently parted ways with the West Avenue Dance Troupe. She has a roommate named Austen. The extent of their relationship is undetermined. She is the headlined dancer for the K-10 Dance Company, whose next performance is Friday. She has no criminal record."

"You are good," Santana nodded.

Nora slid Santana the rest of the folder, "Is that all?"

"Yeah," Santana nodded, "Do I like…tip you or something?"

Nora chuckled and stood, "There's no need." She nodded to Santana, "She's at the 34th Street dance studio right now auditioning for a role in the chorus of the upcoming Broadway show 'Desolation Row'. It's projected to be the highest grossing play of this decade. It's staring one of your clients."

"Rachel Berry," Santana nodded.

The PI nodded, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Santana looked down at the table. Her eyes followed the grains as Nora disappeared into the city. She thought over everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. If she hadn't gotten sick of not knowing where Brittany was or what she was doing and not called the PI, she would have ran into Brittany anyway at the coffee shop. If she had decided against coffee, Rachel would have told her about Brittany. Rachel has taken it upon herself to inform Santana and Quinn of the lives of everyone they used to be in glee club with. It seemed that fate decided that their paths needed to cross again and Santana couldn't agree more.

The line to get into the 34th Street Dance Studio went around the block. There were dancers and singers all waiting in line for their chance at stardom. Santana let out a long stream of air as she stood on the opposite side of the street and scanned the line. She didn't see Brittany anywhere. Maybe she had already auditioned. Maybe she had already left.

Santana pulled out her phone and called Quinn. For some strange reason Quinn always knew where Rachel was so that's how she was going to find out.

"Why do you want to know?" Quinn asked skeptically.

Santana watched a cab whirl past her and almost hit a bike messenger. "Because… I found Brittany and she's auditioning for Berry's play."

"No way!" Quinn added excitedly, "So _that's_ what the PI was for."

"Well yeah, but I ran into her last night before I talked to the PI today," Santana replied and started walking toward her apartment. She just wanted to see if Brittany was still in line and needed anything. Since she couldn't find her, she decided to head back to her apartment, which was across the island.

"Weird," Quinn said in her head, "Anyway, Rachel's at the auditions. She said she likes to know who she's working with or something." Quinn gasped, "I gotta go. I'm going to tell her that Brittany's coming."

"That was the plan," Santana rolled her eyes. Quinn was intelligent, sharp, and all, but she still had her blonde moments.

Quinn huffed at Santana's condescending tone before adding. "We need to all have lunch."

"Talk to my secretary," Santana crossed the street. She and Quinn always joked about how neither one really knew their schedules because their secretaries always kept them for them and reminded them.

"My secretary will call your secretary," Quinn chuckled, "I'll call you after I talk to Rachel."

"Thanks Q," Santana hung up, just now realizing where she was. She looked at the building before her, finding it vaguely familiar and then back at her phone. She pulled up the last address she had looked up and then looked between the street view picture on her phone and then building in front of her. She had walked two blocks from the studio to Brittany's apartment.

Santana debated on whether or not to go in and meet this Austen guy. When Nora had told her that their relationship was undetermined, Santana knew she had to know. Being around Brittany stirred all kinds of feelings that Santana was sure she had settled and one of those was jealousy. The same jealousy that caused most of their fights in high school and the short time they were in college together.

She glanced down the street and saw a vendor selling flowers. She could buy some flowers and take them to the apartment under the guise of wishing Brittany good luck. Of course then she'd have to come up with a way of explaining how she found out where she lived.

But Santana was Santana and she had to know. She bought the best flowers the vendor had which were slightly wilting and very overpriced.

She opened the security door that wasn't really secure at all. It didn't even look like it could lock even if someone wanted it to. She then made her way up two flights of rickety stairs, sandwiched between peeling paint on the outside wall and loose railing that would probably give if someone leaned on it too much.

Santana walked to the apartment with the chipped, copper 3B hanging on the door. Santana readjusted her dry cleaning and the flowers before knocking. If she knew she was going to do this she would have just sent her personal assistant to get her clothes tomorrow.

She heard at least four locks click back before the door creaked open. A sleepy looking guy opened the door without a shirt on. He was in black sweatpants and his shaggy brown hair was ending just above his green eyes. The guy had muscles and his abs were the things of Greeks writing and obsession about. This might be good. Maybe he was gay.

Just as Santana was about to tell him that she had the wrong apartment when he seemed to become fully alert and asked, "Santana?"

Santana furrowed her eyebrows, "Have we met?"

"No," he shook his head and smiled a charming smile at her, "Brittany's told me a lot about you and she has a few pictures of you, although none of them do you justice. I'm Austen."

"Well it's nice to meet you," Santana peered behind him into the apartment. She couldn't see much but an old ratted out couch and a small TV sitting on an old milk crate. "Is Brittany here?"

"No," he shook his head, "She has like three auditions today." She stepped back, "You can come in if you want." He pointed to the flowers, "Are those for her?"

Santana nodded and handed them to him. He walked to the small table by the couch and put the flowers on it. Santana stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Her apartment was depressing because it was empty. This one was depressing in every other way. It was cramped and tiny. It wasn't dirty, but none of the furniture matched and most of it looked like it had seen better days.

"Do you want some water or something?" Austen asked, leaning on the back of the couch.

Santana's eyes flickered to the kitchenette sink that looked like it was starting to rust. She decided against it and politely declined. Having seen Brittany's apartment, Santana was done here. She smiled at Austen, "I just came to drop those off. It was nice to meet you."

He nodded, "It was nice to finally meet you." He walked her the two steps to the door and opened it for her.

Santana walked out with her dry cleaning slung over her shoulder. That apartment was unacceptable. This building was unacceptable. Brittany deserved so much better and Santana would be damned if she wasn't going to give it to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Santana went back to her apartment to wait for Brittany. While she was looking through the apartment listings on her laptop, the blonde walked in the front door. Santana had instructed the doorman to let Brittany come straight up and she had left her front door unlocked.

Brittany was obviously nervous and slowly walked into the apartment. She sat down next to Santana, staying quiet.

"Hey B," Santana smiled, bookmarking another listing that looked good.

Brittany looked at her fingers that were nervously fiddling with little things, "You found my apartment."

Santana nodded, "I had to send the flowers somewhere."

The dancer looked up at Santana, "I didn't want you to find it."

"Why?" Santana set her laptop on the coffee table and turned to Brittany.

Brittany's shoulders moved up and down with a deep breath. She looked around the luxurious apartment that Santana occupied and then back down at the owner. "I didn't want you to-I'm not doing as good as you. I thought you'd be disappointed in me. I haven't gotten famous." Tears filled Brittany's eyes as she continued to speak, "I work at a coffee shop."

"Hey," Santana pulled Brittany into her arms, "I'll never be disappointed in you. You're going to be the best dancer/choreographer. Plus this way when you get rich you can just buy an espresso machine and never have to overpay for coffee ever again."

"Really?" Brittany sniffled, "You're not disappointed?"

The brunette rubbed Brittany's back, "No babe. Never." She pulled back and her eyes drifted to her laptop, "How attached are you to that Austen guy. Because I found an awesome one bedroom in my buildings for less than you're paying for your current…apartment." If one could even call it an apartment.

Brittany looked at the windows and took a deep breath, "We're like…he's kinda…"

"Your gay best friend?" Santana asked hopefully.

"He's not gay," the blonde's eyes drifted to her hands that were playing in her lap.

Santana sighed, "So he's your boyfriend?"

"Sorta."

"Sorta?" Santana asked, trying really hard not to get pissed. It's not like Brittany was going to wait for her to finally confess something she'd always been too afraid to say. Brittany was an adorable, amazing person. She wasn't going to stay single for long. "You live with him."

"It's just," she paused, "not simple." Brittany finally caught Santana's eyes and the insecurity in the blue eyes made Santana's heart melt.

Santana snapped out of her trance and went back to looking at her computer, "Regardless, it's unacceptable for you to be living in that place. Just because the idiots in this town don't recognize your talent doesn't mean that you have to live in a hole. You should totally move in downstairs."

Brittany bit her lip, like she didn't know what to say.

Santana sighed, "You don't have to. I'm just trying to help. I don't like your apartment. Can I at least buy you a couch?"

Brittany couldn't stop a smile. Santana was still trying to protect her and make her life better whenever you could.

"Please B?" Santana leaned into her and put on her most pathetic voice.

"Fine," Brittany grinned, "But not an expensive one."

"Awesome," she smiled triumphantly, "Let's go get it."

Santana drug Brittany from store to store, trying out couches and asking the salespeople more questions than they knew the answers to.

As Brittany was going from couch to couch, sitting on all of them Santana's phone rang. "Yeah?"

"Hey," Quinn answered, "I just talk to Rachel."

"What'd she say about Brittany's audition?" Santana turned away from the blonde so that she wouldn't hear.

"She didn't get the part," Quinn said then quickly added, "It's because she was too good."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Santana asked angrily. This was probably one of Rachel's pathetic attempts to keep anyone that's better than her down.

Quinn huffed, "Chill out. It means she's too good to be dancing backup. Rachel has a friend that is looking for a blonde lead dancer and she called him the second Brittany's audition was over. We're all having dinner tonight to discuss her contract."

Santana grew giddy. She could jump up and down if she weren't in public. "That's fantastic."

"Eight o'clock at Cipriani Club," Quinn told her, "Please be on time."

"I'm always on time," Santana stated.

"When you were with Brittany you two were never on time," Quinn answered matter-of-factly, "So please be on time."

"We will be," Santana stated and hung up. She turned around to see Brittany sitting on one of the upper end couches. She waltzed over and grinned, "So I'm going to buy you an expensive couch as a congratulations present."

"Congratulations for what?" Brittany asked.

"You didn't get the part in Rachel's play because you were too good to be in the chorus, but Rachel's friend wants you in his show as the lead dancer," Santana grinned.

The blonde looked blankly back at Santana, "No way,"

"Yes way," Santana laughed, "We're meeting them at eight o'clock to look over the contract."

A look of pure elation took over Brittany's face. She shot off of the couch and threw her arms around Santana.

"You did it," Santana squeezed her tight, "You totally did it. I'm so proud of you."

Brittany pulled away to look at Santana's face before she squealed and jumped up and down then threw her arms around Santana again. Without thinking about it she kissed Santana. The brunette hesitated before kissing back.

When Brittany realized what she was doing she pulled away and blushed, but she didn't apologize. She started jumping up and down again, "I have to call everyone."

Santana sent Brittany to a less crowded area of the store so she could call everyone. While she was doing that, Santana paid for the couch, but told the salesperson to hold it for her because she wasn't sure where to take it. She was hoping that since she had gotten a big job on Broadway that Brittany would want to move, hopefully into her building.

The kiss still lingered on her lips. She wondered if Brittany was just excited and got caught up in the moment or flashed back to high school when they won something, Brittany got so excited that she kissed her or, what she hoped it was, that Brittany had some kind of feelings for her that went beyond friendship and the moment of excitement had made her forget about Austen.

Austen. Santana frowned at the thought of the half naked man she had met earlier. She wasn't really worried. He was a small speed bump. Santana knew what she wanted and she knew how to get it. If she was good at one thing in high school, it was breaking people up. Finn and Rachel, Quinn and Sam, Puck and Lauren, even Brittany and Artie. She also broke up Mike and Tina, but that was of no benefit to her. It was just for fun and practice.

Brittany danced back over to her and hugged her again. Santana laughed. She could get used to all of Brittany's excited affection. It was definitely a welcome change in her life.

"I need something new to wear to the dinner," Santana stated as they walked out of the furniture store. What she really meant was that she was going to buy Brittany something new to wear. She just didn't want Brittany to protest again. "We have a couple hours before we need to meet them."

Santana managed to talk Brittany into letting her buy some clothes for her. They hurried back to Santana's apartment to get ready and the cab dropped them off of the restaurant at eight fifteen. Maybe Quinn was right, Santana mused, Brittany may actually contribute to her tardiness. She shrugged. She'd rather have Brittany with her than be on time.

When they walked inside Brittany spotted Quinn sitting at a table for four by herself. Brittany quickly walked over and Quinn stood up when she saw the dancer walking toward her. "Brittany, it's so good to see you," Quinn squeezed her when she got close enough.

"I missed you Quinn," Brittany grinned and pulled away.

Quinn looked Brittany over, "You look amazing B. Congratulations on your new show."

"Thanks," Brittany moved to the chair next to Quinn that Santana pulled out for her.

"Sorry we're late," Santana took her own chair.

"You're not late," Quinn smiled.

Santana looked at her phone, "You said eight o'clock."

"Because I knew you'd be late," Quinn smirked, "He's not going to be here until eight thirty."

Santana frowned at Quinn who just laughed.

"Hello ladies," Rachel smiled when she appeared with her friend.

He was well dressed in a blue button down shirt and dress pants. His blond hair was slightly shaggy, but still professional looking. He let out a dazzling smile. "I'm Jonathan." He introduced himself.

Rachel hugged Brittany before smiling at Santana and running her hand across Quinn's shoulder as she walked behind her, ending with a gentle squeeze before sitting down next to her.

Jonathan sat down between Brittany and Rachel. He looked at Brittany, "I've heard and see amazing things about you. I'm really excited that you're willing to join my show. I think it's really going to be something."

"Thank you so much," Brittany smiled at him. She looked at Santana with a joyous smile before turning back to Jonathan.

The dinner went by with Jonathan explaining the show to everyone at the table. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Brittany could sing too. Rachel promptly pulled up one of their high school show choir Nationals victories on her phone to show him.

"This is going to be amazing," Jonathan leaned back in his chair. He turned to Rachel, "I'm so glad you called me. I was freaking out. We were going to start rehearsals in a few weeks and we didn't even have a female lead." He turned to Brittany, "The cast is going to start learning the choreography together in three weeks. We'll of course pay you between now and then as well as send you the music so you can get used to it."

Brittany nodded, "That sounds great." She looked at Santana who was beaming with pride. Brittany took Santana's hand on the table and squeezed it. Santana could tell that Brittany was bursting with excitement.

"Well I have got to go," Jonathan looked at his watch, "My wife won't be happy if I'm much long. Especially having dinner with such beautiful women."

The beautiful women laughed.

Rachel added, "Say hello to Laura for me."

He nodded at her and stood. He turned to Brittany, "How about we meet for lunch tomorrow and we'll go over the contract and make this official?" He glanced at Santana and Quinn, "I supposed these ladies will be asking as your managers."

Brittany looked at Santana and Quinn who silently conferred with each other for mere seconds before both nodding and Quinn adding, "Of course."

"Well I'll see you ladies tomorrow," Jonathan bent over and kissed Rachel's cheek goodbye before walking off.

"We need to go celebrate," Quinn told the other three, "This is huge."

"Agreed," Rachel nodded. She looked to Quinn, "Let's go to that lounge that we went to last week. It was fantastic."

The blonde nodded, "Perfect."

Quinn paid for everyone's dinner and hailed the cab when they got outside.

Inside the bar, everyone ordered their drinks. Then some guys bought them shots. Then they got another round on their own and a guy bought Quinn and Brittany drinks while his friend bought them for Santana and Rachel.

When they were all sufficiently soaked all the way through, Quinn suggested that they all head home.

Brittany and Santana were leaning on each other as they exited the bar.

"We're going this way," Rachel pointed down the left side of the street, her arm looped through Quinn's.

Santana jerked her head to the right, "We're going this way."

Rachel hugged Santana and Brittany, "We all need to go out again. This was fun."

Brittany nodded with a huge grin on her face before grabbing Santana's hand and running down the street. There were only a few blocks from Brittany's apartment so it didn't take long for them to get to the cracked front door.

"You didn't have to walk me home," Brittany giggled and fumbled with her keys.

Santana leaned forward into Brittany, resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder, "I had to make sure you made it home in one piece." Her hands were resting lightly on Brittany's hips. The alcohol coursing through her made her forget that Brittany wasn't hers anymore. She pressed her lips to the blonde's neck and then ran her tongue up the back of her neck before kissing behind her ear.

Brittany moaned softly and finally got the door opened. When they both stumbled inside Santana closed the door and locked it before allowing Brittany to pull her into the empty bedroom.

The blonde sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Santana into her lap. She ran her hands up Santana's legs, pushing up the dark red dress so that Santana could straddle her properly. Santana's hand cupped Brittany's cheeks as their kiss crashed together in a frenzy.

Santana threw her head back when Brittany's hands traveled under her dress and squeezed her ass. Brittany took full advantage and attacked Santana's neck, gently biting and sucking until Santana couldn't take it anymore and pushed Brittany onto her back.

She pulled Brittany's dress off of her and felt her heart stop when she found the Brittany hadn't been wearing a bra. She'd forgotten how beautiful Brittany was, panting and her hair disheveled. She airily ran her fingers across Brittany's face. She had really, really….really missed Brittany.

Santana dipped down and softly kissed the blonde the way she knew the dancer loved. This was started to come back to her. Everything Brittany loved and a few things she hated. The past memories and current senses curled around her and melted her into Brittany. The electrifying feeling of being with Brittany again had flooded her system and caused her to senses to be magnified.

After years of little human contact and almost no feeling, she was feeling everything now with the only human she ever really wanted physical contact with ever again.


	5. Chapter 5

Santana woke up to the sound of a car horn blaring on the street below. She sat up, instantly regretting that, and rubbed her eyes. Her head was throbbing and a car horn was never the first thing that woke her up in the morning. She had an alarm clock that woke her up to her favorite song or if she forgot to set it or had pressed snooze too many times her personal assistant would call to make sure she was awake.

She felt around her in the bed for her phone in the dark. As she was feeling around, she realized that there was an arm around her lap and the soft breathing of another person on her side.

The night before appeared in her head and she let out a smug grin. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she slowly stroked Brittany's hair away from her face.

Her phone buzzed and she picked it up seeing her assistant's first morning wake-up warning. In five minutes he would call her. As much as she wanted to stay, she had to get to work. After all she did have a rising dance star on her hand and she needed to start promoting.

Santana bent over and kissed Brittany's cheek. She slipped out of bed and borrowed some of Brittany's sweat pants and a t-shirt. She hung up her dress in Brittany's closet. She could get it later. She really didn't want to lug it to her office in a cab.

Once she had her phone, her purse, and had kissed Brittany's forehead again, she left a note on the nightstand next to the blonde. Tiptoeing quietly in the old apartment was easier said than done. The floor creaked but she managed to open the bedroom door without it squeaking.

However when she entered the living room, she saw the TV on and none other than Austen sitting on the counter in the kitchenette staring at it. She wondered how long he had been in the apartment. He looked at her with a disdainful gaze before sipping his from a coffee mug and looking back at the TV. "Coffee?" he mumbled.

Santana shook her head. She was sure that he would poison her if she accepted it. She paused glanced back into the bedroom at Brittany who was still asleep. Then she closed the door.

"I don't blame her," Austen stated, his eyes still on the TV.

"You blame me?" Santana asked, crossing her arms.

He nodded, "Yup."

The brunette shrugged, "I guess it is." She walked to the front door and unlocked it, hoping to make this escape without a fight.

"I love her you know," Austen added, finally looking at her.

Santana couldn't help, but look back. She expected to find a hateful glare, but she found a defeated boy. Santana swallowed and looked away, "So do I." She opened the door and paused. "You're not going to do anything to her are you?" She turned back.

The man looked slightly offended, "Of course not."

Santana let out a solemn nod. "Alright." She walked out the door and closed it behind her. So much for the morning buzz she got waking up next to Brittany. Now she felt like shit.

"From now on just text me what you want to post on Twitter and I'll post it for you. You're very...passionate and that sometimes makes you impulsive. This is just a precaution," Quinn was sitting in her reclined desk chair with a washcloth over her eyes, "I doubt I'll have to veto many. Okay…You too…bye." Quinn hung up and took the washcloth away from her eyes. She saw Santana leaning on the doorframe donning sunglasses, with a bottle of water in her hand. "Hey, you're alive."

"Barely," Santana let out a weak smile. She looked at Quinn's clothes that were definitely not appropriate for work. She was in 'Wicked' souvenir shirt and gray cotton pants, spotted with gold stars that were rolled up to her knees. "I just came to make sure you made it home okay."

"Oh yeah," Quinn quickly nodded, "I made it."

Santana looked over Quinn's clothes one last time. There was something janky about this whole situation, but her brain hurt so bad she couldn't figure it out yet. She just shook her head, "I'm going to have Mark make the reservations for lunch. Any idea where?"

"Del Posto?" Quinn suggested.

Santana wrinkled her nose, "It's a little dark in there for lunch."

"You're wearing sunglasses inside," the blonde pointed out.

"I'll be rehydrated by then," Santana walked in and laid out on Quinn's couch.

Quinn looked to her phone for the answer and offered up, "Anthos?"

"Greek food sounds good," Santana rolled onto her side and crossed her arms. She decided she needed a couch in her office. She had taken plenty of naps in Quinn's office and the blonde didn't seem to mind but her couch was kinda uncomfortable.

Quinn picked up the phone on her desk and dialed, "Hey Mark. Can you make lunch reservations of Anthos for four…thanks." She dropped the phone in the cradle and rested her chin on her palm looking at her boss, "I suppose since you're wearing a shirt that says 'Got Dance?' that you spent the night with Brittany."

Santana nodded and yawned, "It was…amazing."

"I bet," Quinn smirked, "Why aren't you dancing around the office, singing and talking to little birds and shit?"

"Because on my way out I ran into Austen," Santana sat up to take a sip of her water.

"Who is Austen?"

"Brittany's sorta, complicated boyfriend," she answered and rubbed her eyes under her sunglasses, "I asked B about him a few weeks ago and she said it's not simple. I don't know what that means though."

Quinn tilted her head to the side, "Well he shouldn't be a problem. You've broken up less complicated relationships."

"Gee thanks," Santana rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I didn't meant it like that," Quinn sighed, "I mean if you could-should break up anyone it's those two. You and Brittany are like Romeo and Juliet."

"They both killed themselves," Santana turned to Quinn.

"Brad and Angelina."

"He's so cheating on her already."

"Whatever," Quinn shook her head, giving up, "You're just meant to be and that's all there is to it."

Santana nodded. She always thought so. "I guess I'm going to have to whip out the 'L' word and tell her."

"You should practice in a mirror," Quinn chuckled, "Maybe you'll be able to say 'love' by next week."

"God I hope so," Santana readjusted her sunglasses and walked out of Quinn's office.

Most days Santana could wear whatever the hell she wanted to work. Who was going to argue with her? She was the CEO. The only person that ever argued with her was Quinn and the blonde was still in her pajamas as well. But she did need to get something out of her secret stash of business clothes to wear to lunch.

Santana still had to let Brittany know where they were having lunch. So hesitantly called Brittany and leaned back in her chair.

"Hey," Brittany sleepily answered the phone.

"I'm sorry," Santana immediately apologized, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I already woke up," the blonde answered, sounding slightly more awake, "But I went to watched TV and fell asleep again."

Santana traced the wood grains on her desk wondering if she had spoken to Austen. "Um, I'm just letting you know that we're having lunch at Anthos at noon."

"Okay."

"Do you want me to come pick you up?" Santana asked, "It's on my way."

"That'd be good," Brittany answered, "I'm kinda nervous."

Santana smiled, "You already impress him last night. Today is just transactional. Money and benefits and stuff. Quinn and I will take care of it."

"You guys are the best," Brittany sighed relieved.

After a long pause, Santana added, "Did you sleep okay?"

"Mhmm," Brittany cooed, "Did you? I know it gets loud sometimes."

"It slept okay," Santana lied. She was exhausted. She was just too pampered in her apartment with soundproof walls.

Brittany let out an audible breath, "Austen told me that you two talked this morning."

"We…did," Santana gulped. It wasn't pleasant. She wanted to forget it. She wanted to forget that he existed.

"He thinks you and I need to talk."

"We probably do."

The blonde continued, "Can I come over today after you get off of work?"

"Sure," Santana nodded, although Brittany couldn't see her.

Brittany's voice got considerably softer, "I'm going to take a shower and get ready. Call me when you're on your way."

"Okay."

"Bye San."

"Bye Britt."

Santana hung up her phone and dropped it on her desk. She reclined her chair and sighed, "I love you."


	6. Chapter 6

"Ready?" Quinn asked, appearing in Santana's doorway at eleven.

Santana looked down at her wine red button down under a black jacket and black pants. Her hair was up in a smart ponytail and she was ready for business. "Are we taking a cab?"

"Pfft," Quinn smirked, "Of course not. First meeting with the new client, what do we take?"

Quinn had a point. Brittany was their newest client. "Have you called Martin?"

"He's downstairs waiting for us," Quinn nodded.

On the way over to Brittany's apartment, Santana texted the dancer to let her know. Quinn distracted her with talk of everything they were going to have to do for their new client.

When the driver stopped outside Brittany's apartment, Quinn frowned, "What a dump."

"I know," Santana shook her head, "It's worse on the inside."

Brittany was sitting on the stoop of her building looking at her phone. She glanced up at the car that pulled to a stop, but then looked back down.

"Did you tell her what we were coming in?" Quinn asked.

Santana shook her head and opened the door. When she got out, Brittany looked surprised. She finally stood up and walked over to the car.

"This is nice," she commented as she got in, next to Quinn.

Santana shut the door and got in the front seat next to the driver.

"It's company policy to pick new clients up in the Phantom," Quinn smiled at her, "We're also throwing you a party next week. We invite all of our other clients as well as agents and media outlets for a huge bash. It's like pulling teeth to get Santana to come, but I'm sure she'll come to yours."

Brittany nodded and glanced at the back of Santana's head.

Quinn looked through some paperwork she brought with her and asked Brittany, "Do you have any questions before we get there?"

Brittany shrugged, "I don't-I don't even know what to say."

Santana smiled and turned around in her seat, "Don't worry about it. We'll do most of the talking. We'll both read over the contract before you sign it."

"Oh that reminds me," Quinn added to Brittany, "Do you have a Facebook or Twitter account?"

"Just a Facebook," Brittany's eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"

"We're just going to add them to our watch list and we'll make you a Twitter account," Santana explained, "I doubt you'll be a problem. At least not as bad as Berry."

Quinn shook her head, "Rachel has a Twitter problem. Anyway, I'm trying to break her of that."

When they got to the restaurant, Quinn and Santana were discussing how much to insure Brittany's legs for.

Santana walked in first like she owned the place and Quinn and Brittany were behind her. Quinn leaned over to Brittany, "Don't worry about anything. Santana is the absolute best at this."

Brittany smiled, "I'm not worried."

Jonathan was already there, waiting for them at the table on the terrace. He stood and kissed all of their cheeks as the approached him. "Good afternoon ladies."

Not much haggling went on. Jonathan was very excited to have Brittany on board and wanted pay her accordingly. Santana and Quinn were actually surprised at his initial number, but quickly accepted it on Brittany's behalf.

Brittany sat quietly between Quinn and Santana listening to the three professionals chatter away about the entertainment industry in general.

Santana noticed that Brittany hadn't said much so she looked over at her and offered a reassuring smile. She mouthed 'you okay?'

The blonde nodded with a smile.

Without thinking about it, Santana reached over and took Brittany's hand giving it a gently squeeze before turning back to Quinn and Jonathan.

This time they all exited together. Jonathan opened the Phantom doors for the women, kissing them all goodbye.

Brittany let out a relieved sigh and leaned her head back, "That was good right?"

"That was amazing," Quinn smiled at her. "That was the best meeting we've had ever."

Santana nodded to Brittany, "It was. He wanted you so bad we didn't even have to negotiate. He was going to pay what you wanted." She winked at Brittany, "Maybe now you can get a new apartment to go with your new couch."

The dancer giggled, "I'm going to look this afternoon."

Quinn looked at Santana, "I think we deserve the afternoon off."

After thinking it over, Santana nodded, "Yeah I guess we do."

"C'mon B," Quinn grinned, "Santana will treat us all to a mani-pedi." Her eyes flickered to Santana who rolled her eyes.

Brittany looked to Santana who smiled and nodded, "If you want to, but I'd have to go to my apartment and change."

"Perfect," Quinn answered for Brittany, "Martin can drop you two off and then he can drop me by my place and I'll shower and change and get my car. Then I'll pick you two up."

Santana narrowed her eyes because she knew what Quinn was doing. She was trying for force them to have some alone time. Which under normal circumstances she wouldn't have objected to, but she hadn't had time to think about what to say. She looked at Brittany who was looking back at her. Santana saw the questioning in the blonde's eyes. Brittany's eyes dropped to her lap. Santana melted and smiled, "Of course. That sounds great."

Brittany looked up at her with a hopeful smile. Santana winked at her before turned forward in her seat. She had exactly ten blocks to decide exactly what to say to Brittany.

When they finally got up to Santana's apartment, they found that Amy was still there cleaning the kitchen.

"Warn me next time you feel like you want to pretend like you know how to cook," Amy joked with Santana.

Santana smiled at her. She glanced at Brittany who was watching them. She crossed her arms and leaned back on the counter, "I need to take a shower, do you want me to take it now or wait a little while so we can…talk?"

"You can take a shower," Brittany smiled at her. She leaned into Santana and gave her a hug.

A little reassured by the hug, Santana happily walked to her bathroom to take her shower. When she got out, she blow dried her hair, got dressed and found Brittany sweeping the kitchen while Amy unloaded the dishwasher.

They were both singing along to music that was coming out of the iPod dock that Santana put in the kitchen. Brittany was using the broom handle as a microphone and Amy was using a ladle.

Brittany paused her singing to tell Amy, "Oh my god San is the best singer of this song," she cast a sideways glance to Santana with a small smile before explaining, "She sang it for one of our sectionals competitions."

Amy looked at Santana, "You can sing?"

"She's the best!" Brittany exclaimed, "She out-divaed Rachel Berry and Mercedes Jones once in an Amy Winehouse sing off."

"Get out," Amy turned to Brittany, "You two know Rachel Berry?"

"Unfortunately," Santana mumbled.

Brittany ignored her, "We were all in glee club together in high school." Brittany looked at Santana, "Now you're like her…manager?"

"I do her public relations," Santana got a water bottle out of her refrigerator. She added to Amy. "We're throwing a welcome party for our newest client next week and I'm sure she'll be there. I'll give you an invitation."

"That would be so cool," Amy grinned.

Santana smiled back and walked to Brittany. She kissed her cheek, "I'll be in the bedroom when you're ready. Don't hurry. I kitchen karaoke is important." She left, dragging her hand across the small of Brittany's back.

"You do amazing things to that woman," Amy shook her head, turning back to the dishes, "She's taken more time off this week than in the last year. I'm usually here more than she is. And she's actually smiling. It's kinda weird."

Brittany offered her a slight smile before using the dustpan to put the sweepings into the trash. She washed her hands, "Do you need any more help?"

Amy shook her head, "I've been doing this for over a year. I think I've got it down." She smiled, "Thanks though."

The blonde nodded. She wrung her hands and she walked to the door to Santana's room. She still didn't know what she was going to say or if she was going to be able to think at all.

When she stepped in, she found Santana sitting in the middle of the bed, cross legged and staring at the water bottle in her hands. The door closing behind Brittany brought her out of her thoughts. She smiled wistfully at Brittany.

"What's wrong?" the blonde asked, crawling on to the bed and faced Santana. She reached forward and took her hand. She turned Santana's palm up like she used to in high school, tracing the lines on her hand.

"I wish it was still easy you know?" Santana's voice cracked as she spoke, "In high school where we just did what we wanted and we – I didn't care about the consequences."

Brittany smiled and nodded.

Santana took a deep breath, "Just tell me what you want."

The blonde looked down at Santana's hand. She looked up at Santana, "I need you to tell me how you feel." She knew it was hard for Santana, but in order to know what the right thing was she needed to know for sure.

"I…" Santana held Brittany's eyes. She could see the questioning and the anticipation. She knew this was it. This was the moment to spit it out or shut the hell up. "Brittany, I…I love you."

A slow smile took over Brittany's face. "How long have you known?"

Santana ducked her head, embarrassed at the actual amount of time, "I knew there was something…there when we first met at the playground in second grade but for sure? Since like…sophomore year of high school."

"We lived together and you didn't tell me," Brittany quietly added.

"I know," Santana swallowed, "I was scared. You know I don't do…feelings well."

The blonde chuckled. That brought a smile to Santana's face. After a silence settled over them asked, "So what do you want from me?"

"You know what?" Santana finally started, "I want to be whatever you want me to be. I know it's probably too late for us, but if you want to just be friends or do the friends with benefits thing or if you want to seriously date, I'm okay with all of them."

"Really?" Brittany asked, taking Santana's hand in her own.

Santana nodded, "I know I fucked up with you, way more than once and I'm really, really sorry. I'm sure Austen is a good guy and if not I'll fuck him up."

Brittany giggled. This was the Santana she knew. The over-protective, slightly uncertain, and emotionally hidden girl she always knew and she always loved. She looked down at the blanket to gather her words. After a few seconds of Santana's heart wildly rioting in her chest and her hands shaking uncontrollably, Brittany finally started talking. "Austen and I…." At the beginning of that sentence, Santana's heart fell. She hated the familiar way his name rolled off of her tongue.

Brittany continued, "We have a….he calls it an understanding." The blonde scooted a little closer to Santana and rested her hands in her lap. "It's like a deal we made."

"Mhmm," Santana spurred her on, her interest piqued.

After another deep breath, Brittany went on, "When we met, he kept asking me out and asking me out and I kept telling him no." Santana smiled, proud that Brittany had to beat guys away with a stick still. Brittany mirrored her smile and then went on, "Anyway, he came over to my apartment one time and saw a picture I had of you. I told him our whole story and how I was sorta…waiting for you to come after me." Brittany shyly look up at Santana through the curtain of her hair. Santana swept the hair away from Brittany's face. She swallowed her apology so Brittany could continue.

"Um, so he said that if we started dating and you found me, that I could go to you and he would let me go because he knew I love you more than anyone else," Brittany watched as Santana took both of her hands, holding them on her knees. "Anyway, he told me that we needed to talk so I knew if I wanted to go with you or stay with him."

Santana's mouth went dry. This whole thing was killing her. She needed to know and she needed to know immediately. "B, you're killing me."

The blonde laughed and tackled Santana back onto the bed, her head hitting the pillows behind her. "It's you. I didn't even think about it. I just knew that no matter what I wanted to be with you."

Santana sighed and melted back into the mattress. She brought her hands up to Brittany's cheeks, "God I love you so much."

Brittany smiled down at her and gently kissed her on the lips. "I love you too." She rested her head on Santana's shoulder.

Santana's phone ringing caused them both to break out of the tender moment. Santana huffed and picked it up. "What?"

"Are you two too busy to go today?" Quinn's voice asked.

Santana looked at Brittany, knowing the blonde could hear. Brittany shook her head with an excited smile.

"No we're not too busy," Santana added, slightly disappointed. Santana glanced at her closed bedroom door. "Is there anyway you could bring Berry with you? My maid is a huge fan."

Some barely audible whispering came over the phone before Quinn added, "Sure, I'll give her a call."

"Okay," Santana added, "We're ready when you are." She hung up and turned to Brittany. "Rachel's coming."

"Yay," Brittany smiled. She kissed Santana and got up off of the bed, "Can I borrow some of your clothes?"

"Of course," Santana grinned and kissed Brittany. It was pretty awesome to be able to kiss her again just because she wanted to. She watched as Brittany got dressed before going to the living room to inform Amy that Rachel was on her way over. It took a moment for the information to sink in but as soon as it did Amy ran into the bathroom to try to make herself presentable.

Santana fell back onto the couch with a smile on her face. Brittany laid down on the couch with her head in Santana's lap. She looked down at the dancer and stroked her hair, "So what are the chances of me being able to talk you into moving into my building?"

"Where in the building?" Brittany asked with a knowing smile.

"About twenty feet that way," Santana pointed in the direction of her bedroom.

Brittany sat up and paused, her lips centimeters from Santana's smiling lips before adding, "I'd say there's a really good chance."

"How good?" Santana pulled away as Brittany went in for the kiss.

"We need to find somewhere else to move this couch because someone just bought me a new one," Brittany giggled and finally caught Santana's lips.

* * *

I wasn't actually planning on ending this in this chapter, but it kinda ended itself. Anyway thanks for reading. It's been fun.


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